We may yearn for the mild sunny days of summer, but the extreme heat and humidity that can come with paradoxically have us running for cover or seeking other ways of cooling down. To celebrate — and prepare for — the advent of summer, we present our favorite, most stylish products for cooling, fanning and shading.
Boffi
Designed by Giulio Gianturco, the Air ceiling fan is a beautiful propeller sculpted from natural wax-treated or black-painted Bahia wood with an aluminum and stainless steel engine and stem. A newer version called Air ST is constructed of stratified wood in white or black matte paint finish.
Extremis
The Hopper family of outdoor furnishings includes a modern picnic table with integrated bench — and a coordinating canopy that can be attached to the table base. Hopper Shade can also be used independently.
Frigidaire
Frigidaire rethought and redesigned the typical room air conditioner, resulting in Gallery Cool Connect. A perforated grill front, inspired by home electronics, gives it a sleeker, more modern look that suits today’s residential settings, while its digital display appears as backlighting only when the system is powered on. It’s also a connected unit that can be controlled by any smart device using an app.
Gandia Blasco
An oldie but a goodie, Gigante Wigwam is a playful, contemporary take on the tipi in pyramidal form. At its base, the tent measures 176 inches square and the peak hovers 208 inches high. The structure is made of anodized aluminum.
Haiku Home
The residential arm of Big Ass Fans, Haiku Home launched at the start of this year with some scaled-down and more affordable versions of its popular, stylish Haiku ceiling fan. The H Series comes in 52-, 60- and 94-inch diameters with airfoils in two bamboo colors or black, white, polished or yellow aluminum. The I Series is offered in a 60-inch diameter with black or white composite airfoils. And the L Series comes in a 52-inch diameter with hybrid resin airfoils in black or white. All three of the series exceeds Energy Star requirements.
Also introduced was Haiku HVAC, a sleek energy-saving unit sporting a metallic louver design that’s much more attractive and complementary than the off-white plastic housing of typical window and in-wall units. The system is still in development but you can sign up on the site to receive updates.
Kettal
The Spanish company’s pavilions are modern gazebos that come in a variety of sizes, colors and finishes as well as different levels of openness made by fully open, slatted or screened walls and roofs.
LG
The manufacturer has been continuing its quest to beautify the lowly HVAC unit, most recently with the Art Cool lines. Art Cool Gallery, for instance, is a compact square unit that’s concealed by an integrated picture frame. The user can customize it with his or her artwork and photographs.
Another great option from LG is Art Cool Mirror, which features a minimal polished mirror finish. The duct-free system is available in 9,000 to 22,000 BTU models.
Olimpia Splendid
Boasting one of the thinnest designs with quiet operation of only 27 decibels, the Unico Air Inverter Recessed functions without an outdoor unit and instead works with just two ventilation holes on the house or building exterior.
Tuuci
The umbrella and shading extraordinaire offers a cantilevering model within its Plantation Max collection. The components are constructed with Armor-Wall Aluminum with the wood-emulating Aluma-TEAK finish. Single and dual cantilevers are available with square, rectangular or octagonal parasols with durable Sunbrella fabric.
Vondom
The clean, minimal Vela Canopy is constructed from thermo-lacquered aluminum components in white or silver tones. The fabric shades are Batyline’s woven polyester with a PVC coating. (Pictured daybed is not included.)